Babysitting Nightmare
by httydfan1991
Summary: When Hiccup is left alone with his one month old daughter for the first time, he thinks its going to be easy. Once Astrid leaves the house though, he soon realises this isn't the case, and that taking care of her is going to be harder than he thought! This follow on from my first fanfic 'What's in a Name', but you don't have to read that to understand this.


_I want to thank everyone who read, reviewed and favoured my first fanfic 'What's in a Name?'. It meant a lot to me I got such good reviews for my first story. I've been writing for years away from the site, but never felt comfortable posting them since a bad experience back in 2003 when I was 12. Lets just say I got some uncalled for nasty reviews. _

_I apologise for this story's length. Once I started I seemed to not be able to stop. This follows on a month from my first fanfic 'What's in a name?', but it isn't necessary to read that first. I'm still getting use to writing decent stuff, so I apologise if this isn't the best. It took me a week to write though, so I hope its worth it :)_

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It was hard to believe that one month had already passed since Siri, Hiccup and Astrid's baby girl had entered their lives. It was even harder to believe that she was a baby that didn't cause that much trouble for her proud parents. At night, she would have a feed before being put in her cradle, and afterwards would only wake her parents two, maybe three times a night. She was a quiet baby, only crying for her parents when she either needed nursing, a clean diaper, or comfort. Even during the day the little girl didn't cause much trouble.

Or so Hiccup thought.

Hiccup usually went out for a few hours each day for his usual flight with Toothless, leaving Astrid to look after Siri for awhile on her own. He never thought anything of it. The infant didn't cause much trouble during the night, and things always seemed normal when he returned home.

He would soon learn Siri wasn't always the perfect baby she seemed to be.

A month after Siri was born; Astrid was nursing her daughter in a rocking chair near the door when Stormfly poked her head into the open door. Astrid hadn't gone flying with the Nadder since she'd been grounded at 6 months pregnant, and had still yet to go flying since Siri was born.

Astrid looked up as Stormfly poked her head in, and Astrid sighed.

"I'm sorry girl; you'll have to go flying on your own again. I can't just leave Siri" Astrid said gently to the Nadder who gave her a sad squawk. She knew she could fly on her own, but she missed her rider being with her.

Hiccup, who had been preparing to go flying himself, frowned at his wife's comment. He'd offered to babysit almost every day since Siri was born so Astrid could go flying, yet she'd always turned the offer down for some reason. Hiccup was now determined to get her to take the offer.

"Astrid, I'll take care of Siri. She'll be alright with me for a few hours. Toothless and I will go flying later" Hiccup said smiling at her.

Astrid smiled back at him. "That's sweet of you Hiccup, but you've never taken care of her without me before. What if she gets hungry again?" Astrid replied nervously.

Hiccup chuckled. "Astrid, you're nursing her now. She won't need another one until after lunch. Besides, it's never just been me and her before. It'd be like daddy and daughter bonding time" Hiccup said with a smile.

Astrid looked thoughtful. "Oh I don't know" Astrid said slowly.

"Come on Astrid, it's just a couple of hours, not a couple of days. I can handle my baby girl for awhile. Besides, she's not any trouble, it won't be too hard" Hiccup grinned at Astrid.

Astrid suddenly smirked and raised her eyebrows at Hiccup's comment. Maybe she would leave Siri with him for awhile after all. Hiccup would soon think differently as to how much trouble his daughter could be.

"Alright, if you think you can handle her for a few hours, you can look after her" Astrid said innocently as she stood up from the rocking chair and gently handed the baby to Hiccup, who seemed to beam in victory.

"She'll be fine Astrid, just go and have a decent flight with Stormfly, we'll be fine" said Hiccup, who was completely oblivious as to what he was getting himself into.

Astrid tried her hardest to hide her grin as she went to leave. "Alright, she's all yours for a few hours. Good luck" Astrid said as she kissed Hiccup's cheek, then her baby girl's.

"Be as good for daddy as you are for me sweetie" said Astrid, as she grinned mischievously at Hiccup, and then walked out the door, leaving behind a very bewildered looking Hiccup in her wake.

Astrid let out a giggle as she and Stormfly went to leave. Hiccup was in no way prepared for what was coming; he had only seen the one side of their daughter's personality in that first month. He would soon see what looking after her could really be like. She wasn't being nasty to her husband, he was bound to find out what Siri does eventually, and this was perfect timing.

Back inside the house, Hiccup looked at Toothless in the corner of the room with an uneasy look.

"Do you think I even want to know what that was about bud?" Hiccup asked his friend worriedly.

Toothless gave his rider a confused look before giving an equivalent to a shrug, and going back to sleep. His rider worried too much.

Hiccup looked at his baby girl fast asleep in his arms and shrugged too. "Astrid must have been kidding around" Hiccup mused aloud.

With his daughter asleep, Hiccup placed her in the downstairs cradle. He stroked a few fine strands of Siri's blonde hair back smiling warmly at his baby girl sleeping peacefully, before going off to do some work on the Book of Dragons he needed to do.

For 5 minutes things were peaceful. Then-

"WAHHHHHH!"

Hiccup started, and fell off his chair in surprise, while Toothless jerked awake and looked around for the source of the noise.

Hiccup quickly recovered from the initial surprise and scrambled up, going over to the cradle where Siri was screaming her lungs out, louder than Hiccup had ever heard her.

"Oh sweetie, what's wrong?" Hiccup said softly as he picked the screaming infant up out of her cradle and cradled her to his chest. Her screams didn't diminish, even at her father's touch, which surprised the young father even more. Hiccup frowned and felt her diaper seeing if that was the cause of his daughter's obvious distress, but couldn't feel anything out of place there.

"Hmm, I don't feel anything, but it wouldn't be the first time you've hidden a loaded diaper from us, huh my little warrior?" Hiccup quipped as he took her upstairs to his and Astrid's room and placed her on the changing table. The baby continued to not only scream, but also wiggled around, making it harder for Hiccup to check her diaper.

"You're just trying to make this harder on me aren't you little one? Seriously sweetie what's the matter? You're never this much trouble!" exclaimed Hiccup in bewilderment as he manoeuvred around the girl's wriggling legs and undid the diaper. It was clean, which baffled Hiccup even further as why his usually quiet daughter was acting the way she was.

"Ok so you haven't got a loaded diaper for me, did something scare you downstairs sweetie?" said Hiccup gently as he fixed the diaper back onto his daughter and picked her back up again. Siri was still screaming and Hiccup was perplexed as to what was wrong as he took her back downstairs.

Toothless, also surprised by Siri's screaming came over to investigate when Hiccup came back downstairs, looking from his perplexed rider to the screaming baby girl in his arms. Then he gave the little girl a small nuzzle trying to comfort her just like his human was doing.

That was the wrong thing to do. Siri just screamed louder at the dragon hovering over her.

Toothless gave his rider an embarrassed coo, as if trying to apologise, but Hiccup despite being puzzled at his daughters actions, chuckled at his friend.

"Its ok bud, you were just trying to help" Hiccup smiled.

That 'help' though had made Siri scream louder than she was before, puzzling the two friends even more. Hiccup went over to the cradle and looked around for any signs that something may have scared his baby girl, but once again came up short for an answer.

"Seriously sweetie, what's wrong? You can't be hungry. Mummy just fed you when she left, and you haven't spit it up, your diapers clean, and there's nothing here that could have scared you. You're not sick are you?" Hiccup said worriedly as he felt his daughter's forehead for any sign of fever, and sighed in relief at her cool head, then groaned in frustration at his baby's incessant screaming.

"Oh Siri, work with daddy here, it's alright, what's the matter?" Hiccup said in gentle frustration as he gently rocked the baby girl in his arms, which decreased the screaming to loud sobbing, but didn't calm her down completely. Over in the corner of the room, Toothless seemed to growl in relief at the small difference in the noise.

Hiccup looked at the dragon and sighed. "If I didn't know any better bud, I think Astrid knew this was going to happen when she left" Hiccup said as his and the dragons eyes widened in realisation to the way Astrid had acted beforehand.

"She totally knew what was going to happen didn't she bud?" Hiccup deadpanned, and the Toothless gave out a dragon version of a chuckle at his rider's sudden realisation.

Hiccup groaned in frustration and collapsed into a chair. "Now I know why Astrid was hesitant to let me babysit. If she puts up with this everyday when we leave the house Toothless, I'm making her a present for her troubles" Hiccup said and Toothless seemed to nod in agreement.

It seemed Siri agreed that her mother should get a present too, by increasing the intensity of sobbing once more.

Hiccup sighed and stood up, gently rocking the girl again. "Ssh its ok Siri, it's alright, I'm right here, you don't have to be upset" Hiccup said softly as he rocked her in his arms, and kissed her lovingly on the forehead, hoping that would calm her down.

No such luck. Siri just continued to cry in her father's devoted arms. Hiccup sighed in disappointment and just continued to rock the baby as best as he could. He had no idea how she had kept this up for almost an hour already.

"Oh come on Siri, it's been an hour, how long can you keep this up for?" Hiccup said flabbergasted.

As if to show her dad how long she could, she started increasing in volume again.

"Toothless, help?" asked Hiccup hopefully to his dragon, who gave his rider a snort and curled up in the corner again. His human could handle this on his own; he's tried already and made things worse.

"Thanks for the help bud" Hiccup said dryly as he turned his attention back to the little girl in his arms. He and Astrid loved their daughter more than life itself, but right now, she wasn't showing him the same courtesy. Hiccup continued to pace around trying to soothe the baby, but not getting anywhere.

"Remind me to _never_ say to mummy you're easy to care for again" Hiccup said in false indignation, bouncing the baby in his arms, trying one last time to soothe her.

Siri finally responded to her father's effects to pacify her and went from sobbing to a whimper, which had Hiccup sighing in relief. Astrid had only been out of the house for over an hour, but it felt so much longer to Hiccup. He was definitely giving his wife a much needed present after today for this.

In a last ditch effort to calm the girl down, Hiccup went over to the rocking chair by the door. Hiccup had made this chair for Astrid when she was pregnant with Siri as a gift. Usually only Astrid used it to nurse the one month old, but after an hour of constant pacing, Hiccup was exhausted! He never knew his baby girl had that much stamina.

Hiccup sat down gently in the rocking chair and cradled Siri carefully, then slowly began to rock her. To his astonishment, Siri went quiet within a few moments and looked up at her daddy's face, and Hiccup could have sworn the one month old would have had had a smile on her face if she were older.

Hiccup couldn't believe it. The _rocking chair_ was the answer all along! Gods he felt dumb.

"You're kidding me right? This was the answer all along? I just spent over an hour trying to calm you down little lady!" said Hiccup, exasperated.

The sudden raised voice of her daddy startled Siri and she began to whimper again.

"Oh gods no" said Hiccup in a panic as he gently rocked the girl again, shushing her softly. Thankfully it worked and Hiccup sighed in relief once again. Toothless gave a small chuckle at his human's actions and Hiccup looked at his friend with a grin.

"Yeah and you did a much better job with her yourself you useless reptile" Hiccup said sarcastically, and the dragon shrugged, grinning and went back to sleep, making Hiccup shake his head in amusement.

Hiccup looked back down at the baby girl sleeping in his arms and smiled lovingly at her. She was finally drifting back off to sleep, and Hiccup was determined to keep it that way. He kept rocking her gently, cradling her protective in his arms, not taking his eyes off her in fear of her waking up and screaming again. When he continued to rock her, he began to feel sleepy himself, but willed himself to stay awake.

This is how they were when Astrid found them half an hour later.

Astrid was thankful for Hiccup taking care of Siri for the past few hours. She hadn't realised just how much she'd needed to get out of the house until today. Now that she was home though, she was worried as to how Hiccup had handled the situation with Siri. She knew Hiccup was wonderful with their daughter, but he'd never had to deal with the way Siri could scream when one of them left the house. It was funny when she left, now she just felt guilty for not telling him what to expect.

When Astrid opened the door to her house though, she was met with the most beautiful sight that she never expected.

Hiccup was still in the rocking chair, with Siri cradled affectionately in his arms, slowly rocking the child. His eyes never left the baby's face, even at the sound of the door opening, his eyes drooping a little, still weary from the past few hours of trying to comfort his daughter.

Astrid leant on the door frame, smiling warmly at the sight of her husband rocking their baby girl. She knew Hiccup loved Siri and would do anything for her, but this was something else entirely. In this moment, Astrid felt as if she couldn't possibly be more in love with her husband and daughter than she already was. She didn't want to disturb them, but she could see how worn out Hiccup looked, and thought it best to announce she was home.

"You know, she's not going to disappear if you take your eyes off her?" Astrid quipped as she walked through the door.

Hiccup jumped a little, not realising Astrid had returned, and he looked up at his wife with a warm smile.

"Oh hey Astrid, how long have you been standing there?" Hiccup asked surprised.

Astrid smiled and walked over to the two of them in the rocking chair, stroking a hair back out of her daughters face lovingly. "Not long, I just didn't want to spoil this moment. I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I came home, but this wasn't it" Astrid said beaming at Hiccup.

"It almost wasn't. Care to share something with me Astrid?" said Hiccup with an accusatory, almost bemused quip.

Astrid grinned. "Oh I didn't tell you? It seems our perfect little girl here doesn't seem to like it when both parents aren't here. She plays up something awful" Astrid said with a smirk as she tried not to laugh.

Hiccup grinned. "Yeah I figured that much for myself thanks. How long has she done this for?" he asked.

'Since the first day you left me alone with her. She was quiet one minute, then the next she was screaming! Took me 3 days to notice the pattern. Lucky for me I tried nursing her, and noticed that the rocking chair calmed her down. Only takes 10 minutes for me now" said Astrid relieved.

"Wish you'd told me that, it took me over an hour to figure that one out! Why didn't you tell me before though?" asked Hiccup gently.

Astrid smiled and shrugged. "I didn't want you to feel guilty every time you left the house. I knew you were bound to find out eventually though. I couldn't help myself today though, especially after you saying that she was _easy_ to care for" said Astrid chuckling.

Hiccup laughed and rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Yeah I got myself into that one didn't I?" Hiccup chuckled making Astrid giggle.

"Yeah you did, but at least you know now. Means you can babysit more often" Astrid said with a wolfish grin on her face.

"I'll babysit as often as you need, but right now, I hope you don't mind that it's your turn to look after her" said Hiccup as he gently passed the baby girl to Astrid who looked at Hiccup quizzically.

"Where are you going off too?" Astrid asked as Hiccup picked up his stuff and went to walk out the door with Toothless.

"I'm going to the forge. You deserve a present after everything you've gone through!"

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_How was it? Good, bad? Please review and tell me what you thought. I'd love to hear what I could do to better in my writing. I don't mind constructive criticism as I find it quite helpful, but I will not tolerate flames of any kind! That was the reason for my 11 year absence from the site in the first place. _

_On another note, I have an entire fanfiction based around Hiccup and Astrid's future family life that I wrote away from the site. Its too long and needs too much reworking to post here, but I'm thinking of using selected ideas to start a longer multichapter bunch of oneshots. I'd love to hear your opinion if I should do this or not. I will also take ideas of what I should write in future stories. I'm only too happy to hear them. _


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